The Quebec Toponymy Commission is launching a reflection on the criticized toponyms. The duty cites two examples: “Moncton Avenue” and “Christophe-Colomb Street” (The dutyMarch 18, A8), both denounced for historical reasons.
The Commission should also take into account comments made for linguistic reasons. Here are three toponyms that should be corrected.
The first and most famous: rue du Petit Champlain, in Quebec. The name of the street is a distortion of successive translations: petite rue Champlain, Little Champlain Street and rue du Petit Champlain. In short, we went from French to Franglais in two centuries. We only have to replace “Champlain” with the surname of a contemporary personality to understand the extent of the derailment.
There would be a second correction to consider: avenue du Belvédère, still in Quebec. There was undoubtedly a lookout point at one or the other end of the taxiway. If there had been two schools or two churches, would we have an “Avenue Église” or an “Avenue École”? To ask the question, is to answer it.
Finally, the Commission could endorse the abbreviated name “Thetford”. The latter has become established over the years. The speakers instinctively Frenchified it by neglecting the word “Mines”, which is always pronounced in English. This is an example of a Franglais toponym! “Thetford” pronounced in French and “Mines” in English.
Current values undoubtedly justify toponymic revisions. Concern for the quality of spoken or written French should also be part of the reasons to be taken into consideration. Especially on the occasion of the International Day of La Francophonie.
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